The invention is concerned with a cutting machine, particularly, a flame cutting machine, with a unit which photoelectrically scans a line curve or edge, which has at least one scanning beam receiver, the output signals of which can be conducted to a leveling motor whereby the leveling motor is connected with a component analyzer for controlling two coordinate motors.
In the case of cutting machines of the above mentioned type which have up to now become known, the scanning beam receivers are placed in a scanning head which, depending upon the output signals of the scanning beam receivers, is adjusted, by means of the leveling motor, in a direction tangent to the line curve or edge to be scanned.
With the known designs, a gear unit is thus required between the leveling motor and the scanning head drive since the leveling motor has too small a starting torque for moving the mass of the scanning head within the shortest possible reaction time. An increase in the motor's starting torque is possible by chosing an accordingly larger motor, but this has the disadvantage that the follow-up speed (scanning speed) cannot, in view of the more sluggish control action of a larger motor, be selected so as to be suitably high. It is however, a constant requirement in the art to bring cutting machines with photoelectric copy control devices into usage with which continuously higher scanning speeds are attainable, which in view of new cutting processes (laser, water plasma), lie far above the speed of 6 m/min which is adequate for flame cutting. These increased demands upon the scanning speed require special measures at the appropriate control devices in the areas of their control speed and control accuracy.